Men's Lacrosse Ranks 19th in Lacrosse Magazine's Annual Poll

by Sports Information
1/17/02

LANCASTER, PA -- Franklin & Marshall College ranks 19th in Division III men's lacrosse in Lacrosse Magazine's annual poll of the nation's collegiate coaches.

The ranking is F&M's second top 20 pick in over a month as the Diplomats were selected 18th among Division III programs in the 2002 Face-Off Lacrosse Yearbook pre-season poll.

Overall, Franklin & Marshall, which was ranked as high as 13th on March 26th last season, is coming off a banner year in 2001 as the squad finished the year 9-7, 3-3 in Centennial Conference play under then head coach David Webster. The Diplomats' season record marked the program's first winning season mark since a 9-4 finish in 1996, a year in which the Diplomats placed ninth in the final national poll.

In the Eastern College Athletic Conference playoffs, Western Maryland knocked off the Diplomats 13-10 as it marked a milestone for Franklin & Marshall which advanced to the post-season for the first time since a 15-9 loss in the 1995 NCAA Quarterfinals to Gettysburg College. In addition, it marked the first time in the 45-year history of the sport at Franklin & Marshall College, that the men's lacrosse program earned a bid to the ECAC playoffs.

This year, the Diplomats will be led by national championship and former Georgetown head coach William J. Gorrow, Jr., who was named the 14th head coach in Franklin & Marshall men's lacrosse history in July.

The head coach at Anne Arundel Community College from 1993 through 2001, Gorrow led his team to the NJCAA Quarterfinals or better for nine consecutive years. A 2001, 1997 and 1993 quarterfinalist, Gorrow's teams advanced to the semi-finals in 1999 and 1995, and the championship game in 2000, 1998, 1996 and 1994.

In 1998, Anne Arundel claimed the NJCAA National Championship as Gorrow was named the national junior college Coach of the Year in 1999. In addition, he was named the Conference Coach of the Year from 1994-96 and from 1998-2000.

Two key players for F&M will be defender Chris Schellhorn (Sr., Wilton, CT/Wilton) and midfielder Jon Singer (So., Reisterstown, MD/Boys' Latin) who were named pre-season All-Americans by Face-Off Lacrosse magazine last month.

A second team pre-season All-America selection, Schellhorn was named to the All-Centennial Conference second team last year for his excellence in front of goalie All-America Dave Kahn '01 as the Diplomats held their opponents to 8.8 goals per game to register a second place finish in scoring defense in the final Centennial Conference statistics.

Schellhorn collected 42 groundballs as the Diplomats advanced to the Centennial Conference "Final Four" before falling to NCAA Division III championship game runner-up Gettysburg 9-7 in a defensive battle in the Conference semi-finals.

Singer, who tied attackman Greg Ivry '01 for the team lead in goals scored with 27 last year, earned honorable mention status. In 2001, Singer scooped up a team high 101 groundballs and fired 70 shots to tally 27 goals, six assists and 33 points in an All-Centennial honorable mention season for the Diplomats.

Overall, F&M was one of four Centennial Conference teams to earn a Top 20 ranking as Gettysburg (#2), Washington (#8) and Western Maryland (#16) also tallied national recognition.